Four grand seems an awful lot to pay for a piece of origami. After all, it is just a bit of folded paper. But that's what sculptor Eric Joisel is charging, and that's what he's getting too. After last night I can entirely understand why.

The 52-year-old Frenchman, who can take up to two weeks to create a single piece, has designed a 16-step hedgehog pattern for wannabe origami folks to have a crack at: he warns that it will take three hours but, seeing as I fancy myself as a bit of an expert crafter, I thought I'd be able to whip one up in no time. How wrong I was.

Everything started so well: steps one to four – bosh – done, easily. Then, the ultimate nightmare – I'd folded the wrong part of the paper. There's no going back after a stray crease, so back to the start again.

This time I got further: it might have taken me two hours, but I reached step 11. Hurrah! Then I got stuck and not even Googling, tweeting or YouTubing could get me any further. The ranks I'd folded wouldn't squash together properly, so the spikes didn't stick up as they should. No amount of folding would get them in the right place.

Another hour passed. Then I tried doing it all again with thin card. When that didn't work I tried wetting the paper (Joisel claims to soak his before folding), but to no avail. Then I realised it was 11pm and I'd spent the best part of five hours in origami hell. Oh, the shame of being out-crafted.